


patience yields ficus

by adverbialstarlight



Series: voltron bingo stuff [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Flirting, Bad Puns, Basically, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Meetings, Language of Flowers, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, POV Lance (Voltron), Pick-Up Lines, Science Pick-Up Lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 00:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adverbialstarlight/pseuds/adverbialstarlight
Summary: There's a new customer in the flower shop Lance works at, and Pidge dares him to go over and woo him with botany pick up lines. Lance expects to get a potted eucalyptus to the face. What he gets is something else entirely.





	patience yields ficus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [91aquarii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/91aquarii/gifts).



> For my parabatai Larissa so she will get off her ass and write too, and also for my Voltron Bingo cards AU (flower shop) and Klance (flirting). This was super fun to write (much less angsty than the previous VB fill) and kudos to friends on discord for digging some of these lines out and for this brilliant title. Enjoy!
> 
> *Completely unedited and written in a day so please excuse any typos

Was it possible to fall in love with someone without ever talking to them, having only known about their existence for a grand total of six seconds?

Usually, Lance would have said no. As much of a sap that he was, that’s not how the universe worked, and his life was far from being a fluffy teen romance movie. He was also definitely not the kind of guy to just instantly fall in love with a person. Lance needed development and depth before that happened, and yet here he was, arranging a bouquet of tulips and daffodils a bit too close to this admittedly handsome guy with large, thick rimmed hipster glasses and long, raven hair that curled up at the ends— it sort of looked like a mullet, to be honest, but that was not the point— hoping in vain that he would maybe glance up even once.

It was completely and utterly ridiculous. Even his coworkers seemed to think so— Pidge had nearly choked on her coffee when she realized what he was doing, Lance told her to fuck off— and yet here he was.

It was as if a spell had been cast over him, as if everything had faded into a dull gray except for this boy, downright ethereal as he lounged beneath a canopy of forget-me-nots and lavender roses. The tips of his hair were tinted scarlet, skin a warm gold in the light of the setting sun. He sat under the window with a worn paperback book, already enough to catch the interest of the bored florist. In the past few years he had strayed a bit away the way that the boy held it, the wear at the binding, it meant that it must be a _really_ good book. There was something in way that his eyes crinkled slightly and his lips quirked up occasionally— this boy just sitting here, reading made Lance’s head spin and chest flutter. He didn’t even care that he wasn’t buying flowers while in a goddamn _flower shop_ , like the flowers were the least interesting thing here.

There was something about him that was almost magnetic, something that made Lance want to draw nearer and strike up a conversation and get to know him. He looked like the kind of person that, if you were lucky enough to get to know him, he’d be easy to fall in love with. Lance wondered what that would be like.

Suddenly a pot was being pushed into his hands and Lance looked up, startled. Pidge was grinning at him, something in her eyes unnerving. Like she was about to make him do something really stupid he would regret.

He looked down at the plant then back up to Pidge. She hadn’t said anything, but he knew _exactly_ what she was making him do right now. “ _No._ Pidge, I am not,” Lance said, pushing the eucalyptus back at her.

Pidge was unphased, she took the pot and placed it back into his hands. “I’ll give you $20 if he throws it back in your face.”

After a moment, Lance sighed. Who knew, maybe he _wouldn’t_ get punched in the face. He and Pidge had used this line a few times before on unfairly attractive customers, and each time it only ended it the two of them going to the grocery store after their shift ended to get ice cream and gummy bears to recover from the confused and judgmental looks they got in return. But maybe this was going to be different.

“H-hey,” Lance began. Pidge snickered from behind him. _Be cool, Lance_ , he scolded himself. He cleared his throat and began again, louder and more confident. “Hey, are you an eucalyptus? Because you've achieved my koalafications.”

He held the spiky plant out like a TV car salesman, winking. It was probably a bit much, but he was really nervous right now, okay?

There was a bang from behind the counter, but Lance didn’t dare bring his eyes away from the boy now frozen in front of him. For a long moment they just stared at each other, the stranger’s book was abandoned on his lap and his mouth open slightly.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll just— I’m gonna—” Lance began to stutter a moment later. He hated Pidge so, so much right now. Though he technically could’ve said no and gone back to arranging bouquets. Why had he done it? Why had he risen to her dumb challenge, she probably didn’t mean it and this guy thought he was weird and—

Laughter.

The boy had come out of his shock and was laughing. He was bent over, his legs curled tightly to his chest and cheeks dusted pink. As embarrassed that Lance was at the moment, he couldn’t help staring for a moment. All the air had been knocked from his chest, his heart forgot how to beat. It was not fair for someone to have such a cute laugh, even if it was at him.

“No, no,” the boy said finally, shaking his head. Lance paused in his retreat. “I’m sorry, you just caught me off guard.  I’ve _never_ heard that before and— Were you— were you just uh hitting on me?”

Lance’s face burned and he shrugged pathetically. Well, at least he didn’t get a plant thrown at him. “Er, maybe? If you didn’t want me to I can just, uh, yeah. Sorry.”

He giggled again and peeked up at Lance shyly. “No. I, uh, I didn’t mind.”

Lance was at a loss for words. This was _not_ how he was expecting this to go. He didn’t mind. But what did that mean? Did he accidentally hit on a really cute straight but accepting guy? Honestly that’d be worse than a potted baby gum tree to the face.

“Oh. Cool. Well uh I’ll just—”

“If you were a flower you’d be a _damndelion_ ,” Lance was suddenly interrupted, by a flat, monotonous voice. He looked up from the ground with wide eyes. The boy was looking out the window now, avoiding Lance’s gaze, the redness of his face and ears spreading down to his neck. “If you were going to hit on me I was honestly expecting something more like that. Eucalyptus though, cool. Nice.” He turned back then, head tilting to the side. “Got any others?”

This was _really_ not where Lance was thinking this would head. “Oh. Well, let’s see,” he said, thinking back to the binder of bad botanical pick up lines and puns they created one slow day nearly a year before. “Ah, got one. Are you thigmotropic, because that mullet’s kinda growing on me.”

Lance watched as his brows furrowed and his hand came up to touch his hair. “My hair is not a mullet,” he stated. “But uh… Hold on. You’re like a forest of potatoes, I’m completely lost in your eyes.”

He wasn’t sure whether it was the line itself or the way that the boy delivered it— completely stone faced and without expression, but Lance burst out cackling at that one. From her place behind the counter, Pidge seemed to be choking on air as well, leaving the boy concerned and the other two customers completely and utterly confused.

“I’m— holy shit. You can’t just do that to me, man!” Lance sputtered. “Okay, fine, it’s on. Are you a botanist because I am lichen you.”

“If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, my garden would go on forever.”

“Darling, I’d treet you right, ‘cause I’m for arboreal.”

“Are you ivy? Because you are vine.”

“Are you the environment? Because I care deeply for you.”

“If we went on a date, you’d want to recycle me and go on another date.”

The store went silent for a moment and Lance blinked. “Oh. Wait. I don’t even know your name, shit. My mom would be _pissed_. Hi, uh, I’m Lance.”

The boy smiled. “Keith. And, I know. You’re uh, you’re wearing a name tag.”

“Oh yeah, I guess I am,” Lance laughed nervously. Keith smiled a bit. On any other occasion, Lance probably would have snorted at the name, maybe commented that it sounded like some seventy year old business man’s name, but this time he couldn’t bring himself to. In another life he would have undoubtedly done it.

Beside him, Keith’s phone buzzed and he frowned. “Shit, well my ride’s here. But I, uh.” He sighed. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this. Shiro’s going to have a fucking field day. I’d like it very mulch if you’d maybe like to text me and hang out sometime or something. I mean you don’t have to, but yeah.”

Keith picked up a small bundle of daffodils in a display sitting three feet from him, tucking the book under his arm and pulling out his wallet as he strode towards the cash register. Pidge looked up in surprise, sharing a look of confusion with Lance before turning back and taking the twenty dollar bill put before her.

“Would you like a bag for that? Maybe a gift tag?” she asked, amused.

“Uh yeah, that’d be cool, thanks,” Keith replied. Pidge snorted and handed him a pen, and he scribbled something down quickly onto the tag. He was left handed, Lance noted.

Keith muttered a thanks to Pidge and speed walked back to Lance holding the flowers out to Lance. “I realize now that it’s sort of dumb, I mean you’re surrounded by flowers _every single goddamn day_ but I uh— yeah, here.”

Lance tried to bite down a wide grin as he took the bouquet, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. I don’t know what to say really. No one’s ever gotten me flowers. And daffodils, interesting. Thank you.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem. Uh, see you around I guess. Bye,” Keith finished awkwardly, waving a bit as he exited the store.

The moment he stepped into the black car that pulled up to the curb and disappeared, Lance looked up from the tag— on it was a phone number and the words _Are you a revitalized planet? Because I’m hoping you’ll be my future_ were scribbled in an endearingly sloppy manner— and turned to Pidge.

“Holy shit,” he said in awe.

“Yeah, what the fuck,” Pidge agreed.

* * *

As Shiro’s car pulled away from the curb, Keith turned to him. “Yeah, so, by the way, can’t swing by to to grocery store afterall. I’ve got no more money, but I swear it was for a good cause. Also you were right. What was it you said again? Persistence yields dates or whatever?”

“Wait, what—”

“Wait, no. It was patience yields ficus. Which is basically a date. And I might have gotten hit on by a cute florist with bad botany puns and then I bought him flowers and gave him my number. Thanks for the dad wisdom.”

Shiro gawked at his friend, nearly swerving the car off the road as the young man put in his earbuds and closed his eyes. “Keith, _what the fuck_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, leave a comment or kudos if you want, I'll definitely cry. Fun fact: this started out as pallura but then I needed things for my klance card so this happened. I think it still worked. That's all from me, have a nice day/night/whatever and bye
> 
> [catch me on tumblr](https://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com)
> 
> Edit: I FORGOT HERE'S THE FLOWER MEANINGS
> 
> Daffodils—new beginnings  
> Forget-me-nots—think of me  
> Lavender roses—love at first sight  
> Tulips—true love  
> 


End file.
